


The Glass Slipper

by Spideryspade



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Anxiety attacks written by a person with panic disorder, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort Later, Crack Treated Seriously, Family Feels, Fish Puns, Hurt/Comfort, I FORGOT TO MENTION but if you ship the turtles with each other GET OUt OF MY SIGHT, I'M HAVING EPIC BRAIN MOMENTS, M/M, but I'm making it this deep, hurt early, it's not that deep
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27174493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spideryspade/pseuds/Spideryspade
Summary: Splinter decides to help his sons out in their battle with the villain of the week.They just don't know about it.
Relationships: It's a surprise!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	1. Sharknado

**Author's Note:**

> OK SO, I saw one post on Tumblr which inspired me (once I reveal the relationship I'll let you guys know what the post was) 
> 
> Also that story is set after Evil League of Mutants and before Shadow of Evil

Splinter's ear twitched with annoyance as yet another commercial put a stop to his gameshow marathon. He propped his head on his hand, staring at the wall the program was projected on. It's been a while since he watched those - for some reason he's been more keen on watching his older movies. Especially the very early ones - "the Ramen Era" as he liked to call it. 

The Ramen Era - as he was just a beginner, one could say an amateur even (not that Splinter would ever call himself that), the guy who constantly has to retake a scene because he keeps forgetting his lines, someone who annoys the producer to no end with his tenseness on camera - ever known a guy? 

Well, they invoked a certain nostalgia in Splinter. It's not that he really regretted his current life choices - has he not taken certain paths he would never have his 4 amazing ninja sons. 

No, those movies made him nostalgic about the whole situation. The furry little situation which gnawed at his insides whenever he stepped near a mirror. Dark thoughts flooding his mind - he was only a few springs over 40 and looking older than Jiji looked that day at the studio. He remembered a curious fact he read in a magazine once - rats only live around 2 years. How did it translate to human age? Did he have 10, 15, 20 years? Maybe less. 

Who'd take care of his sons once he'd be gone? They were still children. They could act tough all they (and he) wanted, but in the end they just entered their hardest part of growing up, with Mikey just becoming an official teen. Would his past still haunt them, even after his death?

Splinter felt his breathing becoming shallower. - almost non-existent - as a lump began to form in his throat.

It must be tea time. 

He struggled out of his chair and straggled to the kitchen. The Lair was uncharacteristically cold as of today, at least colder than any late summer evening he remembered. Maybe it was just the sewer water running beneath the crate under his feet.

Reaching for a tea container with his tail, Splinter put the kettle on the stove turning the spout away from him. An old habit of sorts. He inserted the leaves into the kettle before pouring water into them. After turning on the fire, he sat at the table, the dim red light making his head hurt just a bit. 

His heart still hasn't stopped racing, but it wasn't something he couldn't deal with. The breathing was more annoying than that, alongside the fear he knew to be irrational. He knew it wasn't a real concern yet he still sat there, terrified not only for his life, but also his children's. They've been coming back bruised and scratched before, but never to this extent - shells and plastrons cracked and chipping away (they would just tell him they were shedding - something that looked and felt absolutely different), gashes forming on arms similar to the ones he got during his time at the Battle Nexus, eyes swollen and purple.

Even after 13 years of raising them, he still had parenting problems. Like how to ask your son's if they're risking their lives? 

He should've prepared them better when they were still figuring out their fighting skills - his left side of the brain would tell him - Should've taught them the Hamato way-

He stopped himself right there. 

The tea was boiling.

Coming back to his chair, he's heard the lively voice of Blue making puns at his brothers. He wasn't sure when exactly the boy found his passion in trying to lighten up the mood, but as cheesy as his jokes were, they did their job. "And then I said 'Seems you're not sharp enough for us', get it? Funny, right?"

Purple sighed, exasperated. "We got it the first time, Leo."

"Man, I'm still bummed out he ran away." Red started, sighing. 

"Well, he wasn't that big of a catch anyway, right?" Orange asked and Splinter could hear a tiny slapping sound. Probable high-five from Blue. 

"But if we can't catch small fry, how can we manage bigger fish?"

"You are all terrible and I hate you. I'm going to try to find more about… what was his name again?"

"Spearhead?"

"Sharknado?"

"I think it was something like," Red hummed in thought. "X- Xylo- ?"

"Xiphias?"

"Yeah!"

Splinter sipped on his tea as his show came back on. Why did that name sound similar? Xiphias… He should investigate, but that would mean going out in the public and-

A realization struck him. He jumped out from his chair and latched onto his "do not touch" bookcase. He could swear he had it somewhere- ah! There it was! Dusty and broken (he'd have to visit the hidden city's jeweler to ask for fixing it), but there it was - a Cloaking Broach. He just had to wait until his kids went to bed and-

"Dad?"

Splinter would swear on his grandpa's beard that he did not squeak. "Red! Wh- What are you doing here?!" He tried faking a smile, but it came out somewhat mischievous.

"I wanted to ask you something. Hey, that's that behind your back?"

"My back? Oh, it's just an old little something! Uh." What did kids these days not know of? Something that would get him of his back? " It's a… walkman! Yes, it's old and it… plays music!"

"Oh! What kinda music are you listening to, pops?"

"Old man tapes. Classical music. Don't you have somewhere else to be?" 

Raph was ready to further unwittingly embarrass his father, but conveniently Donnie has called him over. "Hold that thought, Dad." 

With that Splinter was once again alone in the room. He reached behind him and looked at the broach. It had a nasty crack going down the middle of it and slight discoloration, but besides that it seemed fine. He just needed to find the right person to patch it up enough to work for a few hours. Which is exactly the reason why he hasn't worn it before - this kind of magic wasn't exactly popular, at least not to an average Yokai. Sighing, he pocketed it and went on to enjoy his show.


	2. Side effects

Raph came into Donnie's room, the screens illuminating an almost blinding white. Projected on them were various lists, with various faces Raph didn't recognize. But New York was a big city so that didn't really surprise him. "-and so, I should be able to find him-"

"What's all this?"

"Dee made a list of all the suspects, but if you ask me I think we should just patrol the city."

"Leonardo, the city is 468.19 square miles, how exactly would you cover this much?"

"What if we took your tech to patrol with us?"

"I don't have enough ready tech to just go scout. No, that'd take too long."

"Donnie, what suspects have you got? Anyone standing out in particular?"

"A few. We got an aquarium worker and a marine biologist."

"How do you know it's them and not just anyone who's around fish?" Leo asked, leaning on Donnie's chair.

"I narrowed it down to people who were closest to the swordfish exhibition at the aquarium." With that he clicked a few buttons and a camera footage popped up. 

The footage was weirdly angled - showing mostly the aquarium with fish inside. People came and went, looking at the creatures. Raph noticed a few faces from the list, but all of them were long gone before something threw a popcorn stand at the glass, shattering it and releasing the fish inside.

"This gives us nothing."

"I know! You'd think they would have a better perspective - I mean, who would want to steal fish? A fishmonger? Of course not!"

"So what are we going to do?" Mikey asked, frowning. 

Raph stood there, thinking out their next move. Either they could investigate those two guys, since if Xi… whatever his name was- if he was human before he could be hanging out somewhere familiar to him. But if he wasn't any of them and he attacked while Mad Dogs were away, he could harm a good chunk of New York's population.

The other idea was just to wait. Wait until he attacks again, so they could take him down as fast as possible. 

"You're trying to come up with a plan right?" Leo started. "We can smell your 'in-a-pickle' stink."

"I don't even have-" Raph furrowed his brows, pinching his nose. "Look, I think we should wait this one out. I don't want him to hurt people when we are looking for the red herring." 

"Raphael, I just lost so much respect for you considering that joke. But yeah, fine. I understand."

Both Mikey and Leo groaned, but Raph ignored them. Saying his goodbye, he went to his room. Upon entering, Raph let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, wincing as he felt his lungs expanding with pain. He curled up on his bed, trying to find the best position. During their fight, the swordfish tried tearing his shell away, and while it was a futile effort (he was still happy it was him and not Donnie), it did tear his skin on the inside of his plastron, alongside inducing strong internal pain. Kind of like growing pains, but focused on his spine and ribcage. 

He put a blanket over himself and tried to fall asleep, something that would come on the early crack of a morning.

* * *

Splinter walked to the main room of their lair, content with the silence surrounding him. He climbed up the entrance, pushing the drain hole aside. He guessed he had a few hours before his sons awoke, which gave him plenty of time to work.

The streets of New York were thankfully empty, with only the wind humming alongside the buildings. The sky was clear, and even with the light pollution being a constant guest in this city, Splinter could make out a few brighter stars. There were most likely a lot more - like the Big Dipper's tail - but a thing they don't tell you about being a rat - your eyesight gets ridiculously bad. To the point where Splinter had mistaken his sons with simple dummies up close. That might've just been age, however.

Another nasty side effect of mutation was slowly becoming color-blind. He could still differentiate between hues, but they slowly became a brown-blue-purple palette. It didn't happen right away, but only a few years into his sewer life he noticed how red's bandana was becoming darker, which he assumed to be dirt at first. After all his kids were a rowdy bunch, they could get dusty here and there. But then he noticed the hue shift in his old merch, his own suit becoming a weird, desaturated baby blue.

Opening one of the garbage cans and looking at the city below Splinter jumped, landing on the hard, rocky ground.

The Hidden City hasn’t changed one bit since his Battle Nexus days. But then again, he’s only really seen a small part of it - the outskirts still remained a mystery to him. A mystery he would have to unearth today. Or rather tonight.

He wandered into the Witch Town, hoping to find someone with magic compatible with his brooch. A lot of the townsfolk stared at him, not exactly malicious mind you. Curious, would be a word Splinter would rather use. Curious of what, would be a great question to ask, too bad Splinter’s train of thought was cut by a witch appearing out of thin air. “Hello! Welcome to our little Town. Can we help you somehow?”

“Uh…” Splinter stammered, looking at the character before him. They seemed to be an older witch, holding an older staff in their hand, an impossibly wide smile stretching their face. “If you could show me where’s the jeweler-”

“I’m- I’m the Jeweler.” They exclaimed, jumping into the air (show-off) and swirling their staff in the air, creating a small stand with a banner that said “Darg’s Opalite Emporium! No cats allowed” with too much glitter on it. 

“I think I inhaled some-” Splinter coughed loudly into his hand.

“What do you want, old man? Want a necklace that makes you invincible? Or maybe a ring that’s guaranteed to make her say yes? No previous relationship needed.” Splinter grimaced at how nonchalant that seller was with their creepiness. “No? Then, why do you seek the Great Darg’s services?”

“Is there anything you can do to fix it?” Splinter asked, placing the brooch on the wooden counter. Darg raised a brow at it, a crooked smile replacing their neutral expression.

“Fix it? Grandpa, I can make it so much better. Just watch.” With that they swirled their staff over the brooch, a small cloud of purple mist appeared above it, illuminating the piece of jewelry. It slowly rose off the counter, into the mist. Splinter rolled his eyes. A small explosion of glitter and smoke sounded off and, now glowing bright teal, the brooch slowly descended back on the wood. “There! Before your appearance would change according to your current form,” They grimaced, looking at him. “Now it’ll change depending on your deepest desire for yourself. But you need to be careful, it’s powerful magic so a lot of people may be after it.”

“Right.” Splinter hadn’t really listened to a word of caution the witch said. Instead he felt his guts shift with excitement. He could relieve his glory days, he could be in his prime, he could-

Help his sons. He shook his head. That was his main goal, and that only. Sighing, Splinter asked: “How much for it?”

* * *

  
  


Splinter’s face still burned with rage as he came back to the lair. All the magical types are like this. Taking every last bit from you, and for what! A simple spell even he could handle! And he wasn't even magical. He hoped he would never have to stare at that Darg guy ever again.

But at least now he had a way to ensure his kids’ safety now. He kept brushing his fingers across the now smooth surface, delightfully grinding his teeth. He walked into his bedroom, a weak light hitting him in the face. Weird, he didn't remember turning on the lights. Nonetheless, he opened one of the many boxes scattered around his room. Inside it sat a soft, nostalgia inducing fabric, dusty after years of neglect. Splinter took it in his free hand, smiling fondly. “Hello, again.”

He looked back at the brooch, his reflection shifting with each pulse of the glow. 

“It wouldn’t hurt to take it out for a little test, right?”

* * *

  
  


Donnie couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning, but his brain just wouldn't let him rest. He kept thinking of the possibilities- ways to beat Xiphias, he kept throwing questions into the night, hoping the moon would answer him. A poetic way to say he had a strategic mind block. 

Maybe some internet could take his mind off of it (unlikely), or he could find something that would lead him towards a solution (probable). 

He got up, stretching his stiff back. He already felt bruises forming before, black and blue sploches painted randomly across his visible skin. He also noticed his eye puffing up slightly, but it didn't seem to be very severe. 

He hoped none of his brothers felt worse than he did, especially Raph. Donnie's was impaled by the swordfish during their fight - he was so glad he had multiple battle shells - causing him to hang above his brothers, panic twisting his insides as his bō seemed to do next to nothing to the swordfish mutant. Then, Xiphias grabbed Raph and tried to pull him apart with his hands, right beneath Donnie and-

If Leo hadn't teleported in time- If Mikey hadn't grabbed Raph with his kusari-fundo-

Donnie clicked on a video with top 10 smallest dogs. Numer 5 would surprise him (since it was just a puppy and not really a smallest dog - it had potential to grow). 

He could feel his heartbeat slow as he reached number 3. Fortunately, it was an actual adult dog this time. Just as the narrator was about to announce number 2, he heard a muffled voice and a crash outside. Raising a brow (or rather the lack thereof), Donnie grabbed a nearest available battle shell, not even thinking about bringing his mask as he heard another crash.

He didn't see any signs of a fight or any other disturbance outside of his room. But his senses still yelled at him to investigate. And so he did.

He checked up on Leonardo, who was fast asleep with his mask on. He must've crashed right as they parted - he still had his gear on, and his sword lay right next to his bed. Donnie envied him in a sense. 

Moving next, he visited Raph. "Hey, Raph. Are you asleep?" He whispered, but received no answer from the blanket pancake, so he decided to not bother his brother anymore. 

Mikey was the only one awake from the 3, currently watching stacking cans videos. "Hiya, Donnie! Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I could ask you the same thing actually." Don leaned on his bō. "Haven't you heard any noise coming from outside your room?"

"Oh, you mean from Dad's room? I think he put on another movie. He likes to fall asleep to them."

"But I could swear I heard a crash that did not sound like an added stock sound from the 80's."

"You're going to check Splinter's room, right?" Mikey asked, pausing the video just as another stack resembling a bear was finished. 

"Absolutely. Are you coming?"

"Yeah. You know, Dad's going to be mad at us if we wake him up."

"Which is why we're going to be extra careful. And quiet."

"Gotcha!" With that, they exited the room and headed towards their father's bedroom, only to hear something a soft 'ting!' sound coming from above them. They turned their heads and- 

"Is that-"

"No way, it can't be-"

"Lou Jitsu!?" They both cried out, looking at the silhouette above them, about to make a run for it. 

"Oh no, you don't!" Mikey exclaimed, jumping up on the same level as the stranger. He dashed towards him, but when Mikey was a few meters away, Lou stepped to the side, causing Mikey to hit the wall, mumbling a quiet "ow".

Donnie flew up to the intruder, reaching for his bō. "You may be a beloved action hero," He started, extending his weapon, a few sparks flying - that was weird - "But that gives you no right to hurt my brother!"

He flailed his bō at his opponent, but Lou jumped up and landed on top of his weapon. He seemed to lose balance, however, and fell back, his head hitting the ground. 

Donnie now noticed that while the overall silhouette was the same, this Lou differed from the one on his Dad's old tapes. For starters his hair seemed to have a quite a few streaks of grey hair, all of which had appeared longer - something akin to a longer mullet. His face also - while grimaced, something must've been wrong - bore more wrinkles than Donnie remembered. 

Something like excitement run underneath Donnie's skin, alongside… fear? Surprise? Something around that. He positioned his bō into the intruder's face and-

"Is that Lou Jitsu? I thought he was dead!" Leonardo cried out, sprinting towards the scene, knocking Donnie aside with his hip. "Hello, Mr. Jitsu. Big fan." He helped Lou to his feet, an expression of confusion and disbelief on both Donnie's and Lou Jitsu's face.

"Right." Lou started, trying his best to shift into his acting voice. "It is I, uh. Unfortunately, I can't stick around for too long. You know how… life, is."

"Huh. Why were you here in the first place?" Donnie asked, putting his weapon away. 

"Oh, I was just. Visiting an old friend."

"You mean-"

"So,  _ Dad #2,  _ can I call you that?" Leo chuckled, leaning onto Lou. "Of course I can. Well, I was thinking. I mean, thought now. I wasn't thinking what'd it'd be like to meet you before, what. Anyway, I was thinking of a little personal meet-up with your biggest fans?"

"Leo, he just said-"

"Alright."

"Wait, what."

"But not tonight. Your… hero, has a business to attend to." Lou explained, fixing his glasses. 

"Aw, man. Imagine if Dad was here! He'd lose his marbles!" Mikey said, small bits of the wall still stuck to his face. "Maybe we should get him-"

"Don't!" Lou protested, earning curious looks from his sons. "Don't, disturb your dad! He's exhausted after a day of… parenting?" Another epic line delivered by Splinter. "You should all go to bed, it's late!" To emphasize his point, he fake-yawned, cracking an eye to see if any of them were buying it.

Nobody was saying anything so it seemed that way.

"So, when can we see you again?"

"Uh…"

"Oh!! How about tomorrow night?"

"Alright! I'll, uh. See you!" With that he went into one of the entryways leading to the surface.

Donnie turned towards his brothers. "So, am I the only one getting suspicious about him?"

"What do you mean?" Mikey sat on the edge of the concrete, staring at his purple brother with a raised brow.

"I mean. We discovered Lou Jitsu is the source of our human DNA not so long ago and then he just shows up in our lair!"

"What, you think it's some sort of trap planned by Draxum? The guy doesn't even know where we live."

"All I'm saying is I don't trust him."

"I'm sure he'll have an explanation for us tomorrow. He mentioned he was visiting an old friend and spoiler alert, but I'm pretty sure he meant Splinter. Maybe they're in cahoots?" Mikey suggested.

Donnie sighed. "We can ask Dad in the morning. Until then, I'm going back to bed. Night."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine losing color in your life as you got older, that'd suck
> 
> Also Splints was bruxing when holding the brooch! Rats do that when they feel strong emotions ie happiness! :-]


	3. Tutti Frutti

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A SUPER SHORT CHAPTER but fun will start in the next chapter WHICH ALSO should be a lot longer! :-]

Splinter couldn’t believe how easily his sons gave up on their interrogation. Maybe except for Purple, he still didn’t seem to be exactly trusting and to be frank, Splinter wasn’t surprised (and glad in a sense). After all, looking like this he was just a stranger. Maybe even an enemy. Most likely the former, hopefully not the latter. He’d have to earn his trust tomorrow. He pushed the manhole cover aside and-

Wait. 

What about his rat self? How would he explain his absence while he was with his sons? Cold breeze from the surface hit him as he felt a headache develop in the back of his head. Taking it as a sign, Splinter decided that would be a problem for future him.

Present him had something else to attend to. Stepping out of the sewers, Splinter's face met with lights radiating from the street lamps. Smiling, he let their bright yellow color welcome him back on the pavement. Everything seemed to be so much more radiant, even if it was the middle of the night. The moon was dimmed by everything else and- wow, that was a lot to take in. He blinked his eyes, trying not to get too overwhelmed.

Walking alongside the empty road, he took a deep breath. He could go anywhere. Anywhere his legs would let him. His bones still ached, no magic could fix years of giving up on himself - that he knew. But he felt- good. Again. Good about himself, good with his own body. His heart rang in his ears as he chuckled - not really sure exactly what about. The whole situation, he presumed.

On the side of the road he noticed a pizza place - something something Tony, is all he got before he stepped inside, some 60’s song playing on the radio, an uninterested teenager behind the cash register. They were dressed in all black - alongside an obvious wig with streaks of warm purple highlights and purple cat-shaped headphones. “Hi, welcome to Luke Mike Tony Tony Pizza. What can I get you?”

He looked around, seeing nobody around except for himself. “You- you were talking to me, right?” 

They raised a brow. “ Oh no. Don’t tell me you’re one of those guys claiming they can see dead people and all that. That’s too much of a ‘My Dad’ vibe.”

“No! No- Tell me,” The words rolled off his tongue, still feeling just a bit alien without his accent. “Why are you guys open this late? Isn’t it, I don’t know, 1 in the morning?”

“Stop preaching about the weird regulations we have and buy a pizza.”

“I wasn’t preaching! You’re just young and you need your sleep, especially since it's a school night and-”

“Sir, I’m about to give you a hawaiian.”

“Eugh, not that. Alright, uh... “ He squinted, trying to pick a number from the ones displayed on the TV above the cashier. Various products were gleaming, practically asking him to take them. “I’ll have-”

“Hey, don’t I know you?” Splinter stopped in his tracks, his eyes wandering to the teenager. They were rubbing their chin in thought as Splinter heard his heart thump in his ears.

He was prepared for this, he could do this- He just had to wing this! He winged it most of his life, so who’s to say he can’t pull it off one more time?

Oh, who was he kidding. This whole charade was destined to failure the moment this idea popped into his head! And he picked his old suit too! Thought to be fair, none of his current wardrobe would’ve fit his “heart-desire”. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead. His fame preceded him anywhere he went, even after so many years! How could have been so stupid- wow, he sounded so much like Purple. 

The cashier’s eyes were fixated on him, drilling into his skull with just their gaze. He gulped as they opened their mouth- “You’re that repo man from the junkyard, right? Haven’t seen you around in a while.”

“Wh- Uh, yeah! Good to see you too… kid?” 

“What’s with the getup?”

“My… niece had a... birthday party?”

“Sick. She's like, 12 already right? Wait a sec.” With that they went inside the kitchen, leaving Splinter alone. He gripped the counter as he felt his legs turn into cotton. Who even was that repo guy? Did they know each other? Was there some secret knowledge between him and that kid he didn't know about - and frankly didn't want to know?

Right this moment, Splinter promised himself no more city escapades. His heart could take only this much.

“Here’s your pizza. On the house, man.” The teen marched back in, handing over a large box. 

Splinter nodded and with a wobbly step exited the the building. The teen sighed contently and began cleaning the counter. They still had an hour left and they could use it to clean the place. "I had no idea his niece liked old action movies to be honest."

As they reached behind the counter in search of a disinfectant spray, they heard a "YOU GAVE ME A TANGERINE ON TOP OF BACON?!" ring out from the streets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i like to call this chapter Bullying Splinter
> 
> Originally i wanted to give him a Hawaiian, but then I remembered a Tutti Frutti pizza served in my town (a bunch of fruits served on top of cheese and ham) and then It got me thinking :->
> 
> Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed it!


End file.
